Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has firmly denied a Channel 12 investigative report alleging that people connected to it planted evidence and manipulated police systems to trigger an investigation into election tampering in the Arab community.
Netanyahu's Office Denies Report
Netanyahu's Office Denies Channel 12 Report
The Prime Minister's Office said chief of staff Ido Norden simply put a source with criminal information in touch with police, and called any further claims about his role "grounds for libel."
The allegation was aired by journalist Ilana Dayan on "Uvda," Channel 12 News' flagship investigative program. In an official response, the Prime Minister's Office attacked the way the material was presented and said the report was an attempt to divert attention from the affair itself. "Another false report wrapped in dramatic music as part of the grave attempts to silence the election contamination affair," the office said.
Addressing the report's claims about how intelligence reached the police, the office explained the role of Netanyahu's chief of staff. "Criminal information reached chief of staff Ido Norden. He fulfilled his duty, as is expected of every law-abiding citizen, and connected that person with the police," it said.
The office rejected any suggestion of deeper involvement or of directing law enforcement, and said the claims were grounds for legal action. "Any further involvement by the chief of staff alleged in the report is false and grounds for libel. He never spoke with police intelligence officials or with any other parties involved in the investigation," the statement said.
The office also pointed to events on election day as evidence that the information passed to police was well founded. "As the citizens of Israel and the chief of staff learned through the media on the morning of the election, a person was indeed caught with tens of thousands of shekels in cash and Ra'am ballots," it said, referring to the United Arab List party.
